EU considers women board quotas

European Union commissioners are due to debate proposals that would force quotas for women on corporate boards.
BBC says EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding is in favour of the proposals to make it mandatory for companies to reserve 40 per cent of seats for women.
But several countries, including the United Kingdom, are opposed to it.
The debate comes after the European Parliament criticised the lack of female candidates for the European Central Bank (ECB).
A parliamentary committee – in a resolution passed by 21 votes to 12, with 13 abstentions – called on the European Council to withdraw the candidacy of Luxembourg’s Yves Mersch for the ECB executive board, saying his appointment would mean that the board would be all male up until 2018.
The debate on Ms Reding’s quotas plan is due in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
If there is enough agreement, the proposals will be put to the European Parliament, which could vote to make gender quotas mandatory across the 27 countries in the European Union.
At the moment, less than 15 per cent of board positions in EU member states are currently held by women, according to the Commission.
Ms Reding’s proposals on compulsory numbers of women come after France, Spain, Italy, Iceland and Belgium introduced quota laws. Norway, which is not an EU member, has had a 40 per cent quota since 2003.
Her opponents argue that voluntary targets and increased efforts to change attitudes would be more effective in the long run.